Spanish in Savannah & Statesboro: A Collaborative Linguistic Landscape Study
Faculty Mentor
Miguel Garcia
Location
Russell Union Room 2047
Type of Research
Completed
Session Format
Oral Presentation
College
College of Arts & Humanities
Department
World Languages & Cultures
Abstract
In this project, we examine the presence of the Spanish language in two cities in Georgia: Savannah and Statesboro. Following the methodology used in previous linguistic landscape studies on Spanish in the US, we collected 243 physical signs and social media posts containing Spanish from businesses and organizations located in these two cities. We considered the following factors: power domain of entity; commercial domain of entity; language use (Spanish and Spanish/English); language prominence (Spanish only, bilingual but Spanish prominent, bilingual but English prominent); typography; forms of address; purpose of the sign or post; errors; and, English influence.
Results revealed that Spanish is present in both cities, both in public signage and in social media posts. In Savannah, most of the signs and social media posts were from local businesses, whereas in Statesboro they primarily belonged to larger companies. Also, most signs and social media posts in both cities were related to the services sector. In terms of language prominence, in Savannah, most signs and social media posts containing Spanish were written only in Spanish. In Statesboro, most of them were either written in Spanish or presented bilingually with English as the more prominent language. Regarding forms of address, tú and usted (translated as ‘you’) were the most common; interestingly, in several cases both forms of address appeared in the same sign or social media post. In both cities, the majority of signs and social media posts were informative. The most frequent errors reported were lack of accent marks. Finally, English influence was most commonly identified in the use of English words within Spanish phrases. Overall, this study provides the first systematic examination of Spanish in the linguistic landscape of Savannah and Statesboro, while highlighting both similarities and differences from previous linguistic landscapes studies on Spanish in the US.
Program Description
.
Start Date
4-23-2026 3:00 PM
End Date
4-23-2026 3:15 PM
Recommended Citation
Phillips, Kaidence; Babiak, Corinne; Burgess, Lauren; García Martínez, Maria; González, Mia; Koobs, Doug; Krajec, Claire; Millán Merchán, Isabella; Moreira Froste, Daniel; Natera Frias, Ambar; Puckett, Kiran; Reynolds, Todd; Roberts, Jazmin; Rodríguez, Laura; Santiago, Laura; Schell, Tyler; Tarpley, Wynette; Tatum, Janaria; Watkins, Quanesha; and Withers, Mary Inga, "Spanish in Savannah & Statesboro: A Collaborative Linguistic Landscape Study" (2026). GS4 Student Scholars Symposium. 248.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/research_symposium/2026/2026/248
Spanish in Savannah & Statesboro: A Collaborative Linguistic Landscape Study
Russell Union Room 2047
In this project, we examine the presence of the Spanish language in two cities in Georgia: Savannah and Statesboro. Following the methodology used in previous linguistic landscape studies on Spanish in the US, we collected 243 physical signs and social media posts containing Spanish from businesses and organizations located in these two cities. We considered the following factors: power domain of entity; commercial domain of entity; language use (Spanish and Spanish/English); language prominence (Spanish only, bilingual but Spanish prominent, bilingual but English prominent); typography; forms of address; purpose of the sign or post; errors; and, English influence.
Results revealed that Spanish is present in both cities, both in public signage and in social media posts. In Savannah, most of the signs and social media posts were from local businesses, whereas in Statesboro they primarily belonged to larger companies. Also, most signs and social media posts in both cities were related to the services sector. In terms of language prominence, in Savannah, most signs and social media posts containing Spanish were written only in Spanish. In Statesboro, most of them were either written in Spanish or presented bilingually with English as the more prominent language. Regarding forms of address, tú and usted (translated as ‘you’) were the most common; interestingly, in several cases both forms of address appeared in the same sign or social media post. In both cities, the majority of signs and social media posts were informative. The most frequent errors reported were lack of accent marks. Finally, English influence was most commonly identified in the use of English words within Spanish phrases. Overall, this study provides the first systematic examination of Spanish in the linguistic landscape of Savannah and Statesboro, while highlighting both similarities and differences from previous linguistic landscapes studies on Spanish in the US.
